FIL 2014 Preview: Yellow Division
Breakdown

With plenty of attention on the Blue Division and favorites
like Team USA and Canada, Brett Amadon will be breaking down the
other divisions in the lead-up to the FIL World Championships,
kicking off next month in Commerce City, Co. Catch all the action
by picking up your tickets today!

Nichols will anchor the Bermudan back line as a smart defenseman
with a quick stick to scoop up any ground ball within his reach.
Masters is a speedy midfielder who could see time with Jenkins, a
faceoff and ground ball machine, when Bermuda opens up play this
week against France.

Origin

Despite being an offshore financial center located in the middle
of the Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda has had cultural influences from the
North American East Coast for quite some time. In 2002, lacrosse
became one of those influences. A few years after some businessmen
began organizing local pickup games, the Bermuda Lacrosse
Association (BLA) was established. Mike Totman, Ernie Theriault and
Kirk Bridgewater were instrumental in developing the game's
popularity between both Bermudians and expats living on the island.
Today, Bermuda boasts five FIL Tournament appearances (men's in
2006, 2010 and 2014, and U-19's in 2008 and 2012).

Outlook

Bermuda received a rude welcoming in 2010, getting blown out
16-2 at the hands of Poland before dropping its second game 11-5 to
eventual group winner Finland. However, Bermuda recovered to sneak
by Denmark and earn a spot in the middle bracket. Despite playing
the Poles to a tighter contest, Bermuda still walked away with a
14-10 loss before again bouncing back to knock off Norway 8-4 with
a stellar defensive performance. Playing in the 17th-20th place
bracket, Bermuda held on for a one-goal win against Latvia, but
fell 12-7 to Slovakia to finish in 18th place.

France

After a facing tough competition
in 2010, going winless against Scotland, New Zealand and Latvia,
France will be looking to rebound in Denver. (John
Strohsacker)

2010 Results: 2-5 overall (0-3 group play),
27th place

Head Coach: James D. Johnson

Names Worth Knowing

M - Felix DeClercq (Roberts Wesleyan College)

A - Francois Labbé (Lille, France)

D - Nicholas Rodricks (Connecticut College)

DeClercq is a classic midfielder for France. A fast, strong
dodger who can shoot with either hand, DeClerqc currently plays for
the Redhawks up in Rochester, N.Y. Labbé, who was France's
captain in Manchester 2010, is a big attackman who is tough to move
and dangerous around the crease. Rodricks is a quick defenseman
with a high lacrosse IQ. He consolidates the defensive unit and
will captain the team in 2014.

Origin

Starting as a pickup sport, it was expats from the United States
who helped lacrosse get footing among the locals in Paris. In
Lille, the homegrown players had their interest sparked by the play
of nearby Belgium. Eventually, Lille and Paris formed the nucleus
that first appeared at the European Championships in 2008 followed
by its first FIL World Championship in 2010. On off years between
the EC and World Championship, France competes in the Celtic Cup
with Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

Outlook

Group play proved to be problematic for France in 2010, going
winless against Scotland, New Zealand and Latvia. Finishing with a
goal differential of minus-42, the closest contest for the French
was a 10-goal loss at the hands of Latvia. Moving onto the lower
bracket, France was again overmatched, losing 15-4 to Austria, but
managed to knock off Mexico 10-6 to avoid elimination from the
tournament. Instead, France was placed in the 25th-28th place
bracket, where it dropped a close contest to Denmark before winning
its final game of the tournament, 10-8 over Argentina to finish in
27th place.

Ireland

2010 Results: 6-1 overall (3-0 group play), 9th
place

Head Coach: Tom Prior

Names Worth Knowing

M/A - Sean Gibson (Stepaside, Co. Dublin, Ireland)

M - Paddy O'Leary (Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Ireland)

D - Ryan Licht (Bridgewater, NJ)

Gibson is the all-time points leader in the Irish Lacrosse
League, having broken the 100-point mark in January 2014. Since
2008-09 inaugural season, there have been 26 games played in the
ILL and Gibson has averaged over four points per game during that
time. O'Leary is a strong dodger who loves to shoot on the run and
utilize his speed against other defenseman. Licht has both NLL and
MLL experience following his time at Nassau Community College where
he won two junior college national championships.

Origin

Lacrosse in Ireland dates all the way back to the 19th century,
when the first lacrosse club, the Ards Lacrosse Club, was
established in 1872. In 1876, thanks to William George Beers, the
sport got a boost when he traveled to the UK and Ireland with a
team of Kahnawake Indians and members of the Montreal Lacrosse Club
to play in a number of exhibition games. On November 24 of that
year, the Irish Times published the names of lacrosse clubs
that had developed throughout Ireland, including Dublin and
Belmont. Due to all of this activity, the Irish Lacrosse Union was
then founded in 1879 in part by Captain Hugh C. Kelly, who was also
captain of the Irish lacrosse team for seventeen years. With the
establishment and management of an Irish national lacrosse team,
Beers invited the team to travel to the United States and Canada to
play in multiple matches. A scrapbook of this trip still exists
today in the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.

Outlook

Ireland showed the world it was a team to be reckoned with in
2010, cruising through the group stage with a perfect record and
goal differential of plus-50. With its closest contest being a 16-3
win over Switzerland, Ireland advanced to the upper bracket where
they handled Sweden before losing its first game of the the
tournament to Scotland 15-9. Playing in the ninth-12th place
bracket, the Irish ran away from Finland 17-6 before handling
Sweden 15-8 for the second time in the tournament to finish in
ninth place.

One World, One Team, One Dream.
With the help of Aimee Dixon, Uganda's dream of playing
international lacrosse has come true. (Courtesy
Uganda Lacrosse on Twitter)

Uganda

2010 Results: First Time Competitor

Head Coach: Andrew Boston

Names Worth Knowing

A - Joshua Kenneth Okecho (Kings)

M - Castro David Onen (Panthers)

D - Michael Bahiizi (Strykers)

Origin

Making history on an international scale, Africa's first
national men's lacrosse team, Team Uganda, will be playing its
first game in the FIL World Championships on Friday against
Ireland. The initiative to get Uganda into the World Championships
was dubbed the Dream 2014 Campaign. Crafted by Aimee Dixon, who
played college lacrosse at Louisville and had a stint with the US
Olympic committee, the campaign's motto was "One World, One Team,
One Dream." Last year, Dixon moved to Uganda to create a
development plan for the Uganda Lacrosse Union (ULU) as well as a
school for impoverished children. The Dream 2014 Campaign details
the spread of lacrosse in Uganda, starting with Fields of Growth
International in 2010, in a documentary called Kandote (to
dream). The website also includes a short story that describes the
hardships Uganda's players had to face on a daily basis, including
losing their parents to disease, problems with the government and
violent surroundings. Through it all, Uganda made it to Commerce
City, Colo., where they will be led by a coaching staff that features head coach Andrew
Boston (Delaware), offensive coordinator Tom Schreiber (Princeton),
defensive coordinator Tanner Scales (Virginia) and Casey Lavallee
(Hebron, Conn.).